Dear friends. Today sees Is This Mutton's participation in its first ever blog tour. A blog tour promotes a new book, with several bloggers being sent advance copies and choosing a specific date for their "day."
The book I'm featuring today is The Bad Wife by Sarah Edghill. It's perfect reading for a summer holiday.
The Story
A married woman’s lust for a stranger compels her to risk everything, in this new book by the bestselling author of His Other Woman .
It’s just a small picture in the local paper—Katie can’t explain why it sets her heart racing. But hiding the photo of local GP Joe Harvey in her bag sets in motion a chain of events that will dramatically alter her life forever.
Driven by a unhealthy desire for a man she hardly knows, the mother of two begins to worm her way into Joe’s life, knowing it’s reckless but still unable to control herself. As her obsession intensifies, Katie’s world becomes increasingly stressful and she’s forced to cover her tracks by lying to everyone around her. Katie’s dancing with danger, and there will be consequences. And while she can’t live without him, Joe barely knows she exists . . . yet.
My Thoughts
On paper, Katie certainly deserves the title "bad wife". Obsessed with a local doctor, forgetful and prone to sudden bursts of rage, Katie seems neglectful of her husband and daughters.
But she is a woman under stress. She's peri-menopausal but not realising it. At 43, she thinks she is too young, but I can confirm it can definitely start at that age or younger - it happened to me and I had dreadful symptoms around the age of 43 (more in this post if you're interested).
Katie is also feeling taken for granted by her family and she is also grieving for her mother. Her husband is distant and has his own work issues. A teacher, he's facing disciplinary action over allegedly striking a pupil.
Katie invents a fantasy relationship with the doctor but unfortunately it isn't just in her head - she imagines herself in a relationship with him and starts to stalk Dr Harvey, spending hours outside his house while pretending she's with a friend. Her infatuation causes no end of trouble. She breaks into a house, terrifies his girlfriend, causes an accident. And it all leads to a big showdown.
Without giving too many spoilers, I was pleased to see a resolution of sorts by the end with Katie facing a different future with optimism. A four star read.
About the Author
Sarah Edghill worked as a journalist for many years, before turning to fiction. She has been short-listed in several short story and novel competitions and lives in Gloucestershire with her husband, three (mostly grown-up) children and far too many animals. Her debut novel, A Thousand Tiny Disappointments, was published in September 2021 and her second novel, His Other Woman, followed in May 2022 and was a Kindle Best Seller.
Sarah says: "Love is no excuse for outlandish behaviour, and I’m certainly not trying to defend what Katie did. But I hope I show in The Bad Wife that she’s a woman who’s feeling under fire from all sides – even the people who should love her and care about her the most, don’t appear to be looking out for her. So, take all those factors into consideration – grief, depression, hormones – and you’ve got a fairly volatile emotional cocktail waiting to explode on the page."
Follow Sarah on Twitter: @edghillsarah. Website: sarahedghill.com
Thanks to Sarah Edghill and Rachel's Random Resources for including Is This Mutton on the blog tour.
Sharing this post with #AnythingGoes at My Random Musings, Rena at Fine Whatever, Talent Sharing Tuesdays at Scribbling Boomer, #Neverendingstyle at The Grey Brunette, Final Friday at Marsha in the Middle, Senior Salon Pitstop at Esme Salon
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